West Indies cricket has been rudderless for nearly two decades. There have been problems aplenty and the results, more often than not, have remained the same. Losses have been more frequent than cuss words used in Indian stand-up comedy acts. Their cricket has been ravaged by the lack of talent, administrative mismanagement and constant fighting between the players and cricket board officials. Add to this the fact that in the last decade some of their top cricketers have chosen global T20 leagues over playing for the West Indies.

And with each loss, call for West Indies’s exclusion from Test cricket’s small family is growing. On October 5, as West Indies was suffering a batting collapse after India had scored 659/9 (declared) in their first innings in Rajkot, Harbhajan Singh tweeted: ‘With all due respect to West Indies Cricket but I have a question for u all-...will this west Indies team qualify for Ranji quarters from the plate group? Elite se to nahin hoga #INDvsWI.’

The one-day squad for the first three matches against West Indies could have a few surprises – in both inclusions and exclusions of certain names. There will, of course, be a few expected calls. First up, Virat Kohli is all set to be back

Harsha Bhogle went a step ahead, questioning use of term West Indies to describe a team comprising players of Caribbean nations. He tweeted: ‘The “West Indies” to me signifies so many things. Great players, fast bowlers, charismatic batsmen, great crowds, fun, respect for cricket, no sledging, music.....so much. Guess “Windies” is appropriate now. I still wish the “Windies” can become the “West Indies”.’

West Indies’s defeat in the Rajkot Test by an innings and 272 runs margin suggests a total rout, but better Test sides have been bruised in India —a far superior South Africa lost 0-3, England were blanked 0-4 while Australia suffered a 1-2 loss during their last Test tour here. They might have been more competitive than the present West Indies unit, but the margin of defeats, just like India’s 1-4 loss to England in the recent Test series, don’t quite depict the real picture.

Yesterday, Jason Holder was asked about the flak the West Indies have been attracting. “I get where you’re going with the question. People will have an opinion regardless of whatever you do. I have seen even after the best performance, people still have something negative to say. I don’t get caught up personally with the comments made on the other side.

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Rohit Sharma gives first glimpse of his newborn baby girl

Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma and his wife Ritika Sajdeh became parents to an adorable little girl. The right-handed batsman recently shared an adorable picture, which also the baby girl’s first picture, on his social media accounts. While the baby’s face is not visible in the picture, she is seen holding on to her parents’ fingers with her little hands. ““Well hello world! Let’s all have a great 2019 ,” Sharma captioned the picture. Following the baby girl’s birth, BCCI announced that Sharma would not be a part of the fourth Test during the ongoing series against Australia. (Picture: Instagram)

Virat Kohli sports pink on bat, gloves in support of breast cancer awareness

As Virat Kohli entered the Sydney Cricket Ground after Mayank Agarwal’s wicket fell in the 34th over, the pink on his bat, pads and gloves brought a smile to many faces as the Indian skipper showed support to the Pink Test, which is being hosted at the Sydney Cricket Ground since 2009 to support breast cancer awareness. The Pink Test or the New Year Test is held to support the McGrath Foundation, which was founded in remembrance of former Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath’s wife Jane McGrath. The entire ground sported dashes of pink on Thursday – from the wickets to the boundary lines to the Australian cricketers’ caps – for the 11th Pink Test. (Picture: Getty Images)

Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the 2018 Formula One Championship

Lewis Hamilton on Monday deflected all suggestions that he might be the greatest Formula One driver of all time, saying that seven-time champion Michael Schumacher remains the man who most deserves that label. The 33-year-old Briton clinched his fifth drivers' title on Sunday when he finished fourth for Mercedes in the Mexican Grand Prix.

"Firstly, I could never personally classify myself as the best," said Hamilton. "Obviously, within myself, I know my abilities and where I stand, but ultimately, as my dad always told me since I was eight years old -- he said 'do your talking on the track'. So I just try to let my results and the results from the things that I do outside of my sport, hopefully, also contribute to that. So people can hopefully create a decent opinion. But Michael's still quite far ahead in race wins so you have to say he is still the GOAT (greatest of all time)." Reuters Photos

Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar at Brabourne Stadium

Ahead of the match against West Indies in Mumbai, the two greatest batsmen in cricket history - Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli shared a light moment at the Brabourne Stadium.

Virat, recently broke Tendulkar’s record to become the fastest batsman to record 10,000 runs in ODI cricket during his unbeaten 157 against West Indies in Vizag.

Photo: BCCI

Rohit Sharma shares emotional message for Praveen Kumar after he announces his retirement from all forms of cricket

Rohit Sharma, who made his debut for the Indian team in June 2007, took to social media to congratulate recently retired pacer Praveen Kumar.

"We almost started at the same time playing for the country, lots of fun, laugh and good cricket. I cannot forget his spell in CB series 2nd final, it was magical. To a brother, friend and a team mate have a good retirement buddy @praveenkumar," the Mumbai batsman wrote.

Virat Kohli shares motivational message

Virat Kohli shared a photo from his younger days to inspire his fans to always stay positive and work towards their dreams. "With focus and hard work, anything is possible. Keep working, keep believing. Have a super day everyone," he wrote on Twitter.

Kemar Roach flies home after grandmother's death

A day after hearing the news of the departure of their coach Stuart Law, West Indies cricket team—that is touring India for two Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is—has suffered another blow.

According to West Indies Cricket Board, their fast bowler Kemar Roach has been forced to return home to Barbados following the death of his grandmother.

The West Indies team has been holding a preparatory camp in Dubai and will be landing in India today.

According to WICB, Roach will then rejoin the team in India after the funeral. No replacement will be named for Roach.

After bundling out Assam with his six-wicket feat on Friday, September 21, in the Vijay Hazare tournament, leg-spinner Amit Mishra shared his excitement on twitter. The cricketer wrote, “So good to be back on the ground. Victory against Assam. Won this for myself after getting 6 wickets in today’s match.”

Assam chose to bat first in the game and managed a 39-run opening stand against Haryana. However, once Mishra took charge of the bowling, Assam was restrained to under 100 runs. Mishra’s beautiful bowling bamboozled the Assam batting line-up. He bowled unchanged in a 10-over spell to help Haryana pack up Assam for 81 in 30.2 overs.

The 35-year old leg-spinner has been in and out of the national squad and is aiming for a comeback. (Image source: Twitter/@MishiAmit)

Sourav Ganguly spotted in filmcity

Former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly affectionately called as Dada was spottedat filmcity on September 11. After Sachin and MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly's biopic is reportedly in the works now. (Image Courtsey: Raju Shelar/ BCCL)

Sudarsan Pattnaik pays tribute to Dhyan Chand

Dhyan Chand is considered as one of the greatest Hockey players of all time. He is most remembered for his goal-scoring fests. He brought glory to the nation by winning three Gold medals in Olympics. Chand joined Indian Army in 1922 and came to prominence. He played his final international match in 1948.

Paying him tribute, Sudarsan Pattnaik made a sand art on his 113 birth anniversary. He tweeted the picture and captioned it, "Tributes to the Hockey Legend , #MajorDhyanChand Ji on his birth anniversary. My humble appeal to Hon’ble @PMOIndia @narendramodi ji for giving #BharatRatnaForDhyanChand."

Photo: Sudarsan Pattnaik/Twitter

Raksha Bandhan 2018: Virat Kohli shares throwback picture with sister

Virat Kohli, who is currently in England with the national cricket team, got nostelgic and shared a picture from his days as a child with his sister and mother on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

He gave the caption to the post, "Throwback to fond memories with @bhawnadhingra2 Didi. Wishing a very Happy #Rakhi to all the sisters around the world. #Rakhshabandhan (sic)."

Wrestler Bajrang Punia dedicates his Asiad gold to Vajpayee

Wrestler Bajrang Punia, who clinched the gold medal in the men's freestyle 65 kg category at Asian Games dedicated his medal to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

It was Bajrang's second successive gold medal at the Asian Games after his triumph in Incheon 2014 in the 61 kg category.

PV Sindhu visits Lal Darwaza

Badminton maestro PV Sindhu visited Hyderabad's Lal Darwaza temple to offer prayers on Monday. Sindhu, who returned home with a silver medal in the BWF World Badminton Championships 2018, having lost to Spain's Carolina Marin, is now gearing up for the Asian Games 2018.

Arjun Tendulkar sells radios outside Lord’s Cricket Ground

Arjun Tendulkar was seen selling radios outside Lords when rain was playing spoil sport on Day 2.

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh found Arjun selling radios outside the Home of Cricket and tweeted a picture with him. “Look who selling radios @HomeOfCricket today.. sold 50 rush guys only few left ?? junior @sachin_rt #Goodboy,” the tweet read.

Currently, Tendulkar juniour is in England and has been training with MCC young cricketers.

lewis pugh, "HALFWAY CELEBRATION"

Lewis Pugh has made a name for himself not just as an endurance swimmer but an ardent activist who is keen to spread the message of reducing the burden of plastic pollution in our oceans. He is currently on a 50 day challenge to swim the full length of the English Channel from Land's End to Dover, covering a distance of 560km. On an average, he swims 12km a day. On the 25th day of his challenge, he stopped in Portland, which roughly is the mid-point of his long journey. He posted this celebration photo on his twitter account. He is best known for undertaking the longest swim across the North Pole in 2007 highlighting the accelerated melting of the Arctic sea ice. Photo Courtesy: Lewis Pugh/ Twitter

Dilip Sardesai commemoration with Google Doodle

Google paid tribute to former cricketer Dilip Sardesai with a special doodle on his 78th birth anniversary. Sardesai was popularly known as “sardee singh” and credited as the renaissance man in cricket. He made his debut for India vs England and had 30 test matches to his name. He was the first Indian with a double test hundred scored overseas. He made 212 runs vs West Indies at Kingston in 1971. He retired in 1972. He represented Bombay in the Ranji Trophy and never found himself on the losing side in the 10 finals that he was part of.

Mirabai Chanu pulls out of Asian Games 2018

World Champion Saikhom Mirabai Chanu pulls out of Asian Games 2018 owing to an unidentified lower back injury.

As per ANI, Mirabai requested the Indian Weightlifting Federation through a letter to allow her time to recover from a backache and prepare for the Olympic qualifiers.

The decision comes in the wake of national coach Vijay Sharma recommendation that the Commonwealth gold-medallist must pull out of Jakarta event from August 18 to be fit for the Olympic qualifiers, later this year.

It is Thursday and of course, time for some Throwback pictures! Tennis star Leander Paes took to Twitter to share a rare photograph of him with Novak Djokovic and Radek Stepanek. The three of them are laughing as they stand in front of a taxi. It is a beautiful moment, with a mix of posing and candidness, that's been captured wonderfully by the unnamed photographer. Paes captioned the image, "Throwback to the funniest cab ride ever. Three Australian Open champions goofing around on the streets of Melbourne. What could possibly go wrong @DjokerNole @stepec78 .

Tennis fans will remember that Paes and Stepanek won the Australian Open Men's doubles title in 2012. Djokovic, the defending champion, won the men's singles title at the same tournament. While Paes hasn't specifically mentioned the year in which the photo was taken, the caption sure makes it seem it was in 2012. Here's to more Throwback Thursday photos from Paes!

Photo courtesy: Twitter/@leander

Virushka's London diaries

Virat Kohli has been spending some quality time with wife Anushka Sharma in England. India's star batsman will be soon be busy with the Test matches against England starting from August 1.

He shared a lovely picture with Anushka and captioned it, "Just being able to walk around feels like the most joyous thing in the world."

They have been posting some adorable pictures from the UK. Last week, the lovebirds were on a dinner date, "Meal with the bestest," Virat wrote in the post he shared on his social media handle.

Virat Kohli shares a cute picture with wife Anushka Sharma

Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli, who is in England on national duty with actress and wife Anushka Sharma, is spending some quality time with her.

Virat shared yet another stylish picture with ladylove.

Earlier, the power couple was spotted travelling in train with Team India players Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul. They were also seen shopping in Leeds. Looks like the power couple is having a gala time in England.

Virushka, Hardik Patel, KL Rahul travel by train in UK

The Indian cricket team, which is currently in the UK has been sharing several off the field pictures on their social media handle. In the latest picture posted by KL Rahul, the all rounder is seen enjoying a train journey with Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma.

Dilip Sardesai- Google Doodle

Google paid tribute to former cricketer Dilip Sardesai with a special doodle on his 78th birth anniversary. Sardesai was popularly known as “sardee singh” and credited as the renaissance man in cricket. He made his debut for India vs England and had 30 test matches to his name. He was the first Indian with a double test hundred scored overseas. He made 212 runs vs West Indies at Kingston in 1971. He retired in 1972. He represented Bombay in the Ranji Trophy and never found himself on the losing side in the 10 finals that he was part of.

Ziva Dhoni, Gracia Raina set BFF goals

While their fathers were on the field sweating it out in the 1st ODI against England, the new BFFs were seen enjoying the game. Both kids were also seen hanging out with Harbhajan Singh's daughter Hinaya Heer Plaha in the India Premier League this season. These cuties are just so adorable!

Virat Kohli looks forward to T20 match and passionate fans

Virat Kohli, the heartthrob of the nation, is all set to face England once again in the second T20I of the three-match series. The Men In Blue beat England in the first match by eight wickets. The second match will take place on Friday (July 6). Virat took to his social media handle to share a picture of himself with his teammates in a cricket stadium filled with fans. He captioned it, “The most exciting feeling is walking out with your team mates to represent your country. The passion of fans creates a kind of energy that can't be explained.”

While Virat is looking towards the pitch in the photo, fellow team members MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are seen busy in an intense conversation. It is, however, unclear from the photo whether it was taken during India's first match against England or during the matches against Ireland.

India's tour of England comes immediately after the Men In Blue toured Ireland. India beat Ireland by 76 runs in the first match and by 143 runs in the second T20I.

Photo: @imVkohli/Instagram

Hardik Pandya gets emotional

Hardik Pandya posted an emotional message on his Instagram account along with his elder brother Krunal. Both brothers are a part of the Indian squad in the on-going T20 international series in England. From building partnerships on a local ground in Baroda to standing together in the INDIA kit at Old Trafford, this has been one hell of a journey. As kids, we dreamt about representing India and after going through many ups and downs together, today we are here... together.

"Honestly, I don't know how to express this feeling but to have Krunal Pandya on my side in the India camp makes me extremely emotional and proud," Hardik wrote.

Photo source: Hardik Pandya Instagram

Harry Kane reacts after defeating Columbia

After the dramatic win over Columbia in the FIFA World Cup 2018, Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane took to Twitter and expressed his joy. He wrote, "What. A. Feeling. ????#ThreeLions #ENG #WorldCup." Kane won England's penalty after he was fouled in the box by Carlos Sanchez. Winning the spot kick booked England's place in the quarter-finals.

Roger Federer enters third round at Wimbledon

Tennis maestro Roger Federer entered the third round of Wimbledon 2018 after a win over Lukas Lacko. The Swiss won 6-4 6-4 6-1 against world number 73 Lacko. The top seed will play Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff in the next game.

Photo by: Getty Images

Neymar dives earns him criticism

Brazil football star Neymar was bashed by the football fraternity and fans for his theatrics in the FIFA World Cup. Neymar has been making headlines for his play acting on the field. Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio said the Paris St-Germain player's 'acting' is 'not a good example for football'.

Photo by: Reuters/David Gray

“A lot has been said about this Test team in particular; things that I don’t agree with. Within the last year, I think we’ve won two out of four or five series. So I don’t understand why people would be this harsh towards us. We’re playing the No.1 team, India, in their backyard. And history would show we haven’t won a Test match here since 1994 – I think Brian Lara and these greats had been playing all that time.

“I just focus primarily on what I have to do and what the team has to do. There’s not point worrying about what people have to say. The only way we can silence the critics – or try to silence them because I don’t think they’ll never shut up – is by playing cricket.”

On this tour itself, the West Indies have been dealing with one blow after another. While they were having a camp in Dubai, they learned their coach Stuart Law will quit — the West Indies tour of Bangladesh will be his last assignment — thus hitting their World Cup preparations.

They lost their key fast bowler Kemar Roach for the first Test, who flew back to the Caribbean following the death of his grandmother.

And to compound matters, Holder pulled out of the Rajkot Test owing to an injured right ankle. That left the West Indies with a fast bowling unit comprising debutant Sherman Lewis and Keemo Paul only playing his second Test. The strong Indian batting line up was only too happy to benefit against this inexperience outfit. Holder detailed how Law’s exit has affected them. “It’s difficult.

Many don’t understand what goes on behind the scenes. I have seen things that players have found hard to deal with. Every time you build something, there seems to be a barrier or an obstacle. You know that’s life. I think Stuart has brought a different dynamic in terms of professionalism to the side. There were certain methods we needed to change and credit should go for him for that. Hopefully, whoever comes in, we could just settle along for something longer and build something positive for the next couple of years.” Holder is right. It can’t get more negative than this.